Red Satoshi
by Phantos God of Horrors
Summary: Red spends his days as anyone does: living on a mountain, battling the trainers who trek up the snow to face him, removing metal inserts from his body, wondering what happened to him in his past, and loving his beautiful wife. What could one tournament invite do to change any of this? A lot.
1. Chapter 1: Surgery

**Really, I don't have much to say for this story. There is a lot of which I like to it, and a lot I didn't. So, as with the other few stories, this too is getting a rewrite into something I find more appealing for the content it holds. I made it originally with the other stories of this premise in mind, but I do wish to divert from the checklist of the 'betrayal' stories fandoms seem to love a bit too much. Gonna spend some of these first few chapters with our man here doing things much differently from the first write of the story. I'll let the Mistress come in next chapter as its focus. Let her have more of a forefront role this time around.**

 **Also, I always find it weird that Cyrus was able to achieve his dream, out of all the mob boss leaders. Team G for the wins.**

* * *

Red sighed and flopped his face in his hand, scribbling harder in his notebook. People don't like coming to mountains pelted by endless snowstorms and full of roaming, dangerous, skilled Pokémon. Who knew? Been almost three months since the last challenger. There was more company at first. Maybe it was a hype thing.

Red slammed the notebook closed in his hand and tosses it across the table. He wasn't a "hype thing." People weren't that inconsiderate of him. Maybe they thought he wanted the solitude. Like, who the hell lives in an Arceus-damned blizzard at the peak (almost) of a mountain in between two connected regions? Apparently only him. But it was a nice mountain, and snow is fun to have around. It gave him an excuse to wear longer clothing under his uniform. Hid the metal intrusions and indents he still needed to remove and lock away.

Red rubbed his forearm subconsciously, brushing his fingers over the bump the metal hole made in his skin. Dear fucking Sinnoh gods, he wanted to rip it out right then and there. There were only three left and it was the only one still obvious to see and it was annoying and hurt like nothing else. Cue the only problem with his living conditions: he had no clear sight of the sun and moon to use for healing once he tore the metal from his bone. And Gardevoir's Heal Pulse wouldn't recover enough of the skin, bone, cartilage, and everything else vital to his arm for it to lose less blood.

Red stood from his chair and headed out the cabin into the snow, trekking through the shoveled path down to the cave entrance. His eyes quickly adjusted to the light of the flames, much dimmer than those of his cabin house. Across the flames from his approaching form, sitting against the back wall of the small cave, sat his two trusted companions. At least the ones that didn't sit on his shoulder.

Red picked a rock of the ground and knocked it on the wall beside him to awake the two Pokémon and alert them of his presence. The two awoke startled, jumping up and away from each other before settling a glare to Red, one softer than the other.

 _Good morning._

 _We were trying to sleep, Master_ , the Lucario responded, grumbling as he shifted back to being comfortable on the ground.

 _I noticed. And you were succeeding, not trying._

 _Don't you sass me._

 _Boys, please_ , the Gardevoir spoke softly. _Can we not argue right now? Master, what is it you need?_

 _Your powers. Do you mind?_

 _What for?_ The Gardevoir lifted herself to her feet and walked around the fire to Red.

 _Gonna remove the last insert from my arm. Would rather leave the bleeding out to a minimum. Synthesis won't be fast enough to do the job on its own._

 _But Master!_ Gardevoir's attitude did a 180 as she threw her arms out to the side and began shaking as she mind-spoke. _We removed the last one yesterday! You haven't recovered your full strength, and last time that happened we almost failed to fix your legs!_

 _Which is why I want you to come along again. So you can help keep me from dying of blood loss._

 _Sir, that isn't a laughing matter! You've been close to doing that too many times!_

 _She's right you know._ Lucario lifted himself off the floor, but stayed on the other side of the fire. _It's been three times you've been bed ridden for doing this. I doubt it's going to be different this time._

 _I'll be fine, I promise. I have you two. Still have to get Magneton though before we head out and get to work. Come on. Let's go._ Instead of waiting for their responses, Red turned the other way and started walking out the cave, setting off Gardevoir to freak out more and chase after him while flailing her arms.

 _Master, please, don't do this! Mistress won't want you to remove another so soon to the last one!_

Those words made Red stop in place better than her Psychic could have. He pondered, a finger on his chin, gliding along before rubbing against one of the holes on his face. _I'll deal with her. I'll make sure she doesn't blame any of you for helping me with this. And if you don't help, I'll get Espeon, who is much more willing to go along with this, to help and I'll make the same promise to her, so don't think you backing out is going to stop me. And I promise, no matter what, I won't go for a multi this time. I'll only get the one still in my arm and leave my back for another day._

Gardevoir sighed and glared slightly at the back of Red's head before walking up behind him and lightly punching his back. _Fine. But if Mistress yells at you and gets mad, it's all your fault. You better not drag me into this._

Red laughed. _Understood. Now come on. Let's get this done before dinner._ Red reached back and grabbed Gardevoir's stretched hand, pulling her along gently back to the cabin and inside so he could summon those he needed.

* * *

Red turned on and began typing away at the big computer in the corner of the dining room as Gardevoir waited at the table, picking away at a plate of watermelon placed before her. He tapped the side of the box as he waited for the other side to answer his call. He loved his wife for installing this here for him. Especially when she went down to work, he at least had something to call her and hear her at any time of the day. Suddenly, the screen blipped on and revealed the blue haired man Red was trying to contact.

"Good afternoon sir," the man said cheerily, smiling from the other side of the screen. Red smiled back and began typing away on the computer. Better than trying to message his mind from so far away.

-Afternoon, James.-

 _I thought you said it was morning_ , the Gardevoir spoke up from her place at the table.

 _I said that because the two of you were cuddling._

"What can I do for you today, sir?"

-I need you to send Magnezone and Probopass over, if you don't mind. Going to remove the last insert in my arm today.-

"Are you sure that's a good idea, sir?" James questioned slowly. "It's not even been a full day's time since you removed the one in the other arm. Is this safe?"

-Oh, I've already got an earful from Gardevoir about it and Yellow will probably give me one ten times over when she hears about this. Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. It's a brighter day out today, so we should have it easier this time around to close the wound.-

James sighed, lowering and shaking his head. "I shouldn't let you do this."

-I know. But I'll be getting this done one way or another, so it's just easier that you comply. Thank you.-

"Don't spite me," James grumbled as he typed away at the computer. "Just Magnezone and Probopass?"

-I have Gardevoir and Espeon here already. Just need the last two. Thank you, James.-

"Anytime, sir." James looked back to the screen and smiled a small smile. "I do wish you luck. With the removal and with your wife."

-Lord Arceus knows I need it.-

"May his blessing be with you." Red cut the connection with James as he waited for the two Pokémon to be sent his way. His fingers drummed against the six spaced pad sitting beside the screen, overtaking the noise of Gardevoir's chewing. Gods, now he was hungry. Maybe some food in his system before removing a good two inches from his arm would be good.

 _Maybe I'll pack some food so we can have a picnic after we remove it._

 _Would you like me to make a basket, master?_ Gardevoir perked up from across the room, still chewing away at her plate of food.

 _No, it's fine. I'll put it together. Do you mind going upstairs and getting Espeon for me? I know she wants to be a part of this, and her Sunny Day will only make things easier._

 _Alright master_. Taking the plate with her ( _how is there still food on that thing? She is far from a slow eater_ ) Gardevoir headed up the stair in search of the pink feline Pokémon. And as one head is chopped off, two more shall take its place, as the pokeballs Red was waiting for appeared on the pad as his psychic companion made her way up the cabin stairwell.

Plucking them into his hands and clasping them to his belt, Red made his way through the pantry shelves, grabbing backs and boxes of foods and other snacks for him and his Pokémon. He tossed what he could grab into best the bag he could find. They would all be in need of sustenance after the operation.

 _I found her. She's being lazy again_. Red turned away from the cabinets to see Gardevoir walking back down the stairs with a ( _FINALLY_ ) empty plate in hand and a pink feline-like creature wrapped around her neck like the collar of a tux. _Do you mind taking her off me? She likes you more._

 _Fine_. Red sighed and, as gently as he could, pried Espeon off of Gardevoir's neck and rested her on his. The small psychic cat purred and moved her tail, touching the two end tips to the side of his neck and making them glow slightly.

" _Is that more comfortable for you, Espeon_?" Red spoke weakly, and almost robotically. The Pokémon nodded and purred, snuggling up against her trainer's shoulder. " _Good_. _I prepared the basket of food. Ready to head out when you are, Gardevoir_."

 _I am ready, master_. Said Pokémon reached out to her trainer and placed her hand in his, before focusing her attention elsewhere and teleporting the group away, to begin the small task.

* * *

 _This clearing should do it._ Red threw the two pokeballs into the air and watched silently as the two final evolution Pokémon appeared before him and his psychic Pokémon. _Probopass, I need you to spread out and stay on watch for us. Make sure no one makes their way over here and sees this._ The stone head Pokémon let out a cry of understanding in his tongue and sent off the three small heads into different directions while sending the rest of himself in the last direction. _Magnezone, get ready to pull. I have faith in you to do what you did last time._ The floating metal oval with magnets of a Pokémon responded with a sequence of beeps, and Red gave a slight nod in return. _I understand. I've gone over this with the others. This one is all you have to do today, and I'll put off the shoulders for a good long while for you all, okay?_ Red stepped forward and places his hands on the steel/electric type and brushed his exposed finger tips gently across its metal body. _Let's just balance out my body today and then we'll move on from this. I won't bother you for your help until you're comfortable again._ A few more, softer beeps brought a smile to Red's face, and he nodded slightly while backing away into the middle of the clearing.

 _Espeon, Sunny Day, please._ The small psychic cat mrowed and shot a small but bright ball up into the sky from the gem on her head. It flew higher and higher before bursting and shining down on the trainer and his Pokemon. Red dropped down onto the grass, sitting with his legs crossed and arm outstretched away from Magnezone. _Gardevoir, Magnezone. Begin. Quick like a band aid._

The psychic mage sighed and nodded to the Magnezone, who pointed its two front magnets at Red's arm. The trainer bit down on his lip, arm shaking and morphing slightly with each passing second. His eyes flickered, doing their best to keep their gaze on the metal hole slowly rising out his ar-

SHINK

Red opened his mouth to scream. No sound came from it. He hunched over and rolled down onto the grass, digging his nails into the dirt and pressing his face into the ground as the hole in his arm began to pour out. Magnezone beeped in a soft tone, dropping the metal and bloody cylinder onto the grass and approaching its trainer slowly. Gardevoir rushed down to his side and began shooting the energy of Heal Pulse from her palms to close the wound as soon as possible. _Master! Synthesis, hurry!_

Red turned his head slightly up towards the sky, staring one red eye into the sun and basking in its light. His body glowed a soft green, waves of energy passing over his body and focusing on the two inch hole, making it smaller and smaller much faster than Gardevoir was making it on her own. Espeon nuzzled her trainer's face, licking it softly and pulsating some of her own psychic energy into his psyche. His breathing slowed down, not reaching a steady pace until the hole in his arm had sealed completely and left a small circular scar in its place.

Gardevoir panted, hunched over her trainer's body, using her psychic powers to move the puddle of red away from Red's arm. Gazing down at his face, he made no sign of a reaction to the blood's movement. His eyes stayed wide, gazing out to the side and Espeon licked and nuzzled his face with hers. The psychic lady fixed her position to sit beside her trainer, and gestured to Magnezone to come closer and lay down beside them, which it did.

 _Thank you, Magnezone_ , Gardevoir praised the Pokémon on her trainer's behalf. _You removed this one much faster than the last one_. Red twitched slightly, and Gardevoir extended her arm to him and pet his hair softly.

 _T000k 00u, M000ezo00_. Red's eyes drooped and closed slightly. _So000 for m0000g you 00 t0is ag000 so 0000, 000 00 wa0 what I 000ded_.

 _Master, your voice is cutting out._

 _000ry_.

Espeon purred and places her tail on his neck, the two tips glowing softly while brushing up and down his neck.

" _Let's..have lunch.._ " Red spoke softly, his voice like metal scraping across itself.

 _Okay Master. I'll call back Probopass and get the food set up._

" _Thanks_ …" Slowly, Red reached his arm out to Magnezone, petting the Pokémon gently, while his eyes stayed glued to the circle on his arm. " _You did..good, Magne…zone…_ " The Pokémon beeped back brightly, and Red smiles softly. " _Good.._ "

Red laughed softly and hummed as he felt his body begin to rise, the little rock heads working their magic on his torso and pushing up to sit, and resting him against the big body of Probopass. " _Thanks buddy…_ " The three stones set themselves in the middle of Red's lap, cuddling together like little Torchics for him to pet, which he did. Magnezone flanked him on his other side, setting down softly on the grass. Gardevoir and Espeon sat in front of them, the feline having jumped away from her trainer to join the other psychic type, digging into the basket and pulling out food for each and every one of them to eat.

Red kept his gaze in his lap when he took his sandwich from Gardevoir, looking at the scars mirrored on his arms. He brushed no fingers against them and worked instead on unwrapping his food. His eyes followed the small path of blood to the metal rod sitting in the grass a ways from the group, lying across as the blood dried in the sunlight.

 **Where do you come from?**


	2. Chapter 2: Honey

**Hey, look, new chapter. Oh hwow. Because of other things taking away my life, this one took longer to write than it should have, but it is here now.**

 **I'll make it clear now, that we're a second chapter in and the styles of communication have been introduced, what each style represents so we're all on the same page.**

"Normal speech"

 _Thoughts/Telepathy_

" _Emphasis or Red's voice when he uses Espeon's powers_ "

 **There isn't really much to say about this story other than it is an amazing coincidence on my part that Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are here tomorrow, according to the calendar. Make way for the godsends. Had I been thinking about it, this would have been much more intentional, but it's only kicking in now as I write this note. Holy shit. Welp, either way, the second chapter to this rewrite is here. Enjoy.**

* * *

Red clicked off the screen as Magnezone and Probopass phased out of existence and transferred back to the lab. He turned to walk away and instead tumbled into the arms of Gardevoir and Lucario. The two humanoid Pokémon flanked either side of the legendary trainer, holding him up on his feet and assisting him up the stairs. He could feel the psychic mage brush a hand around the fresh scar on his arm, hidden under a sleeve, but Red made no complaint to her actions. He felt no pain from her touch, but the chuckling under his breath did tell him it was soft and vulnerable.

When the trio reached his room, Red pushed himself forward into the door, and took his arm from Lucario to open it. _I can walk from here_ , he tried to tell them. _Don't worry. It's a flat surface from here to the bed. I'll be fine._

Lucario took his words and stepped back for his master to walk, but Gardevoir ignored Red's request and continues to walk with and hold him up as he made his way to bed. He tried with what little might he had in his weakened and tired state to get her to calm down and let him go, but it was all to no avail as the psychic/fairy type helped him into his bed.

 _Am I at least allowed to sleep without you watching over me?_ Red joked in a softer expelled voice, using his better arm to fix the blankets Gardevoir threw over him.

 _Can I trust you not to get up if I'm not here?_ Gardevoir countered.

 _Bring Espeon in here then._ Red reached behind his head and centered his pillow. _She and Yellow are the only two I allow in my bed. You and Lucario are too weird._

 _I can hear you, ya know,_ Lucario growled from out in the hallway.

 _How would I not know? I'm broadcasting._

 _Fine, I'll have Espeon keep you down then_ , Gardevoir cut in. _Stay here and don't move, mister._

 _I like that vowel better._ Gardevoir blinked at him in confusion. _Mister instead of master. Only other known way to spell it is muster but that only works under a different context._ The Mage Pokemon huffed her cheeks and knocked a hand on Red's forehead.

 _Just get some sleep, 'master.'_

 _Dammit._

Lucario stepped out of the way of the door as Gardevoir made her leave, stopping only a moment on lean on her mate, and made her way back down the stairs to get Espeon personally. The steel/fighting aura wielder kept his eyes trained on his master, as the human kept his gaze on the ceiling above.

 _The arm insert is the only one you removed today, correct?_ Lucario gave his question. Neither's gaze moved.

 _I can't remove the rest,_ Red replied, half confirming Lucario's question. _The ones in my back are placed over areas too vital to risk damaging, and,_ Red lifted his good hand over his face with his fingers gliding over the inserts that decorated it _, these could probably tear my face apart and leave me brain dead at the worst. Can't have that happening, now, can we?_

 _I suppose you're right,_ Lucario agreed, cutting himself off as Espeon brushed past his legs and hopped onto the bed. She danced across her trainer's chest, curling up against his good side and resting her tail against his neck as the two ends began to glow. _Will you be living with them forever?_

" _Maybe,_ " Red spoke. " _I don't even know how long I have been living with them. They don't drill into my bones or organs, even though it seems they may have in the past. For now, I can do nothing but keep them and hope it doesn't cause any new forms of damage to my body. I'd rather not rip out my heart_."

 _Fair enough._ Lucario turned his back to the room and took a step to leave, but only one step before Red stopped him.

" _Lucario._ "

 _Yes master?_ Lucario peered back over his shoulder to find Red in the same position. No sign that he had moved even an inch.

" _Can you check in with Yellow for me? I want to make sure she is doing alright and find out when she'll be coming home._ "

 _Of course, master._ Lucario bowed his head in affirmation.

" _And at least call me brother, and not master. Pass the message onto Gardevoir as well, when you get to her._ "

 _And why would I do that?_ Lucario gave his master a wolfish grin before disappearing from the doorway and down the steps.

" _Traitor._ "

Red pet a hand across Espeon's sleek fur as the feline creature nuzzled into his side. The action made her wiggle her tail, which against his neck made Red chuckle in a voice that broke in and out of existence until it settled against his skin again. The mountain homed man turned his attention away from the ceiling to the side, his eyes glazing over as his gaze drifted elsewhere. They went from a box below the window, to a jacket folded over a chair, to a photo set on the dresser, and rested there.

Red smiled at the sight of his wife from a year earlier, caught mid spin and midair as a year-younger him held her in the air. Her hair obscured a portion of her face, but not enough to block from him now the sight of her eyes and her smile, sideways to the camera to be directed to her newly-wed husband at the time. Even with the eight holes in his face, Yellow still looked to him with love and care.

A roar shook the picture and its frame, and Red placed a hand over his Pokémon to keep her down. His smile, however, stayed firm and strong as he looked out the window to see an orange-red dragon fly past, with a hunk of blue atop his back. _Well she's home early_.

Red stroked the feline's fur to calm her back down after the roar and as the Charizard stomped away from the cabin to somewhere else in the mountain. Downstairs, Red could hear the door open and talking ensue afterwards, though the only present voice was muffled. He continued to busy himself giving his attention to Espeon as the noises downstairs continued, scratching the Pokémon's chin as she licked his cheek. Soon, the talking went quiet and in its place was a thumping noise, one that gradually got louder to Red, until it too stopped. The trainer tilted his head the other way of the window, and in the doorway found a figure standing in her winter gear in the doorframe, gloves in one hand and hair in the other as she fixed it outside of her snow coat.

" _Welcome home, honey_ ," Red greeted her softly with Espeon's tail at the side of his throat.

Yellow sighed audibly as she dragged the zipper of her coat down her body. "What did we say about early removal, Red?" she responded, and in her tone Red could hear the agitation behind her words.

" _You and I both know I have the worst memory out of us two._ " Yellow glared over his at his attempt of a joke, not finding in it the same humor he did, as she hung her jacket on the closet door.

"I thought we agreed not to do them in succession, and without me around," Yellow remarked, kicking off her snow boots in the process.

" _The unbalance was bothering me and you were at work._ "

The young woman almost stomped her away to the bedside, flipping the covers off his left side to get a look at his arm. "What bothers me is that you decided not to tell me when you were doing this." Despite the attitude of her tone, her hands were careful and gentle as she peeled the sleeve and rolled it up his arm until it reached the elbow. "And me being at work when I have to be is not an excuse you get to use."

" _I didn't want to disturb you._ " Red let his gaze drop from her head to the shine of her left hand. " _Pulling you away from all that when I can't. I didn't want to do that when what you do is important._ "

" _This_ is more important," she argued with him. "And it disturbs me that you would try to hide something like this from me."

" _As if I could hide anything from you. I was going to wait until you got back home to tell you myself, but it seems someone did my job for me._ "

"And I'm happy James told me when he did. He should have tried harder to stop you."

" _I would have hacked them over anyways. His compliance just made everything go smoothly._ "

"Stop calling it that. You don't even know how to hack. Leave that to Jessie."

" _I do._ " Red reached over his body with his free arm to take hold of one of her hands in his, specifically the one that wasn't tracing the outline of his new scar. His thumb brushed the knuckles of her hand as she took a seat beside him on the mattress. Red hummed as he took her hand to the other side of his body, brushing his fingers against her ring. " _Speaking of which, how is the mining going? Anything new opened from Giovanni's files?_ "

Yellow sighed and dropped her body beside his, keeping a small amount of distance from his arm to avoid applying pressure to the scar. "Not enough," she admitted, "and none this past week. There are still several files to open that she's having some trouble getting around. We still don't know if all their bases have been located, the identities of the higher ranking officers and scientists and all their associates. And…no, we still haven't found his file yet, or any hint that they do have one on him." With those last words she looked into the expecting eyes of her husband, watching them drop from fatigue and disappointment, neither of which he tried to direct at her.

" _They have to have one. We've found other prisoner files, so there has to be one on him. It doesn't make sense for them to abstain someone like him from the roster pages you've shown me. There just has to be more we haven't found yet._ "

"Red, please." Yellow tiled her head towards him, resting her forehead against his shoulder. "We're going to find something on him eventually, I promise, but you shouldn't be placing so much importance on it if it doesn't have what you're looking for."

" _It will._ " His lips pressed softly to the top of her head. " _It has to. It's too much of a coincidence for it not to._ "

 _Master? Mistress?_ Yellow twisted her body around to the door of the room, and Red flicked his eyes past her to see with her the Gardevoir in the doorway. _The League has sent you a message. Would you like to read it now?_

" _Yes, Gardevoir_ ," Red replied, pushing past the discussion that he could see affecting his wife. " _Hand it to Yellow, please._ " The Mage Pokémon nodded, using her powers to float the PokéNav out of her hands and into those of her mistress.

"Thank you Gardevoir," Yellow told the Pokémon. "Was there anything else sent?"

 _No, mistress. Dinner won't be for another few hours. Would you like me to prepare it tonight?_

Yellow shook her head. "It's alright, Gardevoir. I'll be making it again tonight. I'm home early, so it won't be a hassle for me. Thank you for informing us of the message. You and Lucario are free to roam until dinnertime. Charizard should be resting in the cave across, if you both with to join him for the time being."

Instead of responding, Gardevoir bowed to the couple and shut the door quietly as she left. Yellow navigated around on the screen to pull up the message they were sent, and Red tilted his head closer to see it for himself. " _What does it say?_ "

\- Dear Red Satoshi,

\- I do hope this is reaching you at a convenient time. Thank you for registering your Nav with the Pokémon League so we may contact you directly. The League is going to be hosting a tournament in Unova's Driftveil City in four days' time, and many trainers globally have already been invited and registered to participate this year. After giving it a bit of thought and debate, the League has decided in inviting you to the tournament, but not as a battling participant. We would instead like you to come as a champion representative for the week long tournament. You will be stationed with the champions Lance, Steven, Wallace, Cynthia, Alder and Diantha, along with the Professors Rowan, Sycamore, and Kukui since the Alola region does not have their own stationed champion of the region. The League believes your insight and presence are enough to place you and a figure for the trainers competing to look up to with the others and learn from. And we believe you yourself may find interesting competition amongst the trainers registered, which we believe is to be a roster of over 500.

\- We understand if you wish to decline, but do keep in mind that the spot is open to you if you decide to join us late. Either way, if you do come, you'll need to register at the town's Pokémon Center that you have arrived, and we'll have someone escort you to the champions, whether that be in their meeting room or the viewing booth for the tournament. You do not have to respond to this. We'd rather your presence be a surprise to the champions if you do accept our offer.

\- With regards.

\- Charles Goodshow

 _So that's where all the trainers went_ , Red's thoughts spoke out, since Espeon's tail had retraced around the sleeping feline's body. _I was beginning to wonder why I had such little traffic recently. Seems attention was elsewhere…wait, is this the tournament you were telling me about a month ago as they were making preparations? I thought it was going to be a regional tournament._

"I thought so too," Yellow agreed, reading over the invitation again. "I had no idea it was going to be this big. I haven't been keeping up with the news of it since, if it's been in the news."

 _Guess we were wrong._

Yellow smiled slightly and nuzzled her head against Red's. "It's nice they're giving you the position of a champion representative. Wouldn't you rather be out on the battlefields with the other trainers?"

Red hummed and poked his nose to the side of Yellow's head. _No. For this, I think it is best I take this role. Seems much more interesting, and maybe even fair._

"Do you plan on going then?"

 _I do, but_ , Red moved his head back and used his fully functioning hand to cup Yellow's chin and tilt her up to him, _only if you agree to come with me._

Yellow smiled up to him and scooched up to his face, planting her lips on his with a kiss, which he returned in full. The two stayed in a lips' embrace, eyes closed and heads tilted to the side to relax with one another. When the two had to break, they did so slowly and silently in the calming air they needed to breathe in. Yellow opened her eyes back to his, which opened after hers, and brown met red. "I'll come with you then," she promised softly. "I'll have Jessie and James stay back and watch over everyone while we're gone."

 _Just the two of us then, along with out Pokémon. Good._ Red lifted his hand to her hair, playing softly with the golden locks past her shoulders. _I'll make sure to treat you to a night out while we're in town, then. It's been a while since our last date, hasn't it?_

Yellow giggled as he brushed a hair-filled hand against her cheek, stopping it with a hand of her own before it could move on. "It has been some time. You're sweet when you try to be, ya know that?"

 _I'm the Half-Masked Monster of Mt. Silver out there. But I'm your husband here. Being sweet to you is a goal more important to me than anything._

"Anything?"

 _Anything._

Yellow twitched her leg as she felt something poke against it and looked down between them to see Red's healing arm scoot closer to her, fingers poking against her thigh. She blinked twice, looking down at his slow and twitching hand. "Honey, where is your ring?"

 _You think I would ever allow blood to touch it?_ Red lifted his hand slowly, gliding it up the side of her thigh and torso until her hand stopped him. _Dresser, top drawer. Under the blue shirt. Do you mind helping me put it back on? I forgot to when I got home._

Yellow nipped her lips to his knuckles before she sat up and turned her body away from him and to the dresser. Red's hands were lowered into her lap, the closest draped over to the other side and the other resting on the edge of her leg, as her own hands sorted through the drawer of his clothing. Scooting closer, Red pressed his forehead against her lower back. She made no reaction to him nuzzling against her spine, instead folding the clothing back down as she found what she was searching for.

Red's hands felt the pressure of Yellow's on top of them, and his left hand twitched as her fingers snaked through his, sliding something cold down one of them until it reached the knuckle. He responded my curling his fingers and intertwining them with hers, their rings clashing against one another. _Thank you, love._

"Anytime," Yellow responded, twisting back around to face him and lying herself down on his chest. Her hands moves his to her sides, and he took the initiative to wrap them around her. "Just no more removing those…things from you, okay? Not unless you tell me, or even better have me around to watch over you, okay?"

 _Okay._ His hold around her tightened ever so slightly. _You did it for years before. I trust you enough to do it again._

"Good." Yellow nuzzled her head closer to his neck, resting in the crook of it. "When should we leave for Unova?"

 _If I'm stable enough by tomorrow, we can head then. But if you need more time to plan and pack and prepare, we'll leave the day after. Does that sound alright, arriving two days before the battles begin?_

Yellow hummed against his skin in a sound that Red recognized as an agreement. His hands moved slowly on her back, tracing circles on either side of her spine and she laid in his embrace.

Red tilted his head away, back to the window of the room, watching the snow blow past. He could hear the wind blowing it past, but could feel none of it. It was peaceful to watch. Aggravating to understand.

His gaze dropped, and so did his eyelids, as he fought against the sleepiness to take another look at the picture. Of his wife, held in his arms, smiling to him with love as he smiled back in earnest and love of his own. Of the couple, just the day after they were wed, enjoying and welcoming the next step in their lives. Of himself, covered in scars and metal, with so little answers to give as to why.

 **Who were you before you woke up?**


	3. Chapter 3: Center

**I'm sorry this chapter is so late. I had planned to release it before New Years, but the energy to write was something the holidays had taken away from me and the energy to live and breathe and not cough out my chest was hard to find this whole past week. I've only recently gotten back into a comfortable shape, and just in time to subject myself to the hell of classes once again when I wake up in like eight hours. It's pushed my schedule back so Betrayed's chapter will be written and uploaded later this week and push my whole schedule back by a week it had been planned. Sorry.**

 **And this chapter started in a good place too. I had gotten so much Pokemon related items for Christmas that i wanted to share while the hype was around but now I'm two weeks later and crying at my unfortunate soul. At least I have my giant Slowpoke. Rest well Poko.**

 **I think one thing that bothers me when I read and write is the wave of ideas I get from everything and the lack of time I have in my life to share it all. I want to write more stories, some short, a chapter or even a few more, but I have nowhere to fit them in comfortably enough to be with everything else. I can try to manage a few one-shots if anyone is interested, but I don't have any for this franchise. I have a story idea, but it won't be seeing the light of day for quite some time, if ever. I'm too invested in my other writing to give up now and ruin it all. Maybe I'll do something with the idea. Don't know yet.**

 **I plan on putting something on my profile notes later, so if anyone is interested, you can look there to see and give me feedback in a review or a PM if you want. Until then, enjoy another look at the man and woman who run the show, as we make our way to a grand stage of battle.**

* * *

 **2 Days Later**

Red ran his arm along Lapras' neck, tracing his fingers down the scales on the back and earning a coo from the Water/Ice type. He smiled and leaned over, resting his masked face on the Pokémon's neck. _You can make it the rest of the way, can't you girl?_

Lapras let out a cheer in her tongue and picked up her pace, jolting Red slightly in his seat. A yelp from behind elicited a quiet laugh from his broken lips and turned his around to watch Yellow pick herself back up into a seating position. _You okay honey?_

"Warn me next time, will you?" she shouted back over the wind and waves, giving Red another deaf laugh as he worked his way back over the Pokémon's shell to his wife. Once she had seated herself back into place, Red locked here there with a hug. The blond woman sighed and leaned into him. "The least you could have done was warn me she was going to speed up."

 _She didn't say she was going to_ , he responded. _Would have told you if I knew. Or just done this to save you from the trouble._ Yellow let out a grunt of a response as Red worked an arm between her back and the bag on it to deepen the hug.

"Either way do _not_ let me fall in the water. I will haunt you for the rest of our lives if I drop in the ocean, you understand?"

 _Yes ma'am_. The legendary trailer pecked the mouth of his mask against Yellow's cheek to imitate a kiss. _I would never let you go_.

"Good answer. And if you're going to give me a kiss, make it a real one."

Red let out a static sound from his telepathy mimicking a chuckle before closing the gap between the two halves of his mask. He placed a hand over the jaw, and four cylinders jutted out along the jaw, clicking the mask out of the inserts he connected it to. His hand caught the material and lowered it down into his lap and shook his jaw side to side until he was confident the feelings in it were normal before lunging at his wife and planting a kiss on her cheek. She jumped at his speed, but the arm still around her kept the Pokémon professor from falling over again.

 _Like that, dear?_ Red asked her again, his lips pressed together in a small smile.

"Close, but," Yellow leaned in to her husband, placing her hands on his knees and her face in front of his, "could be closer." Her chin pushed forward until it met his and her lips pressed into his until they began to push back into the kiss.

The two sat still as their lips kept touch, the sound of the sea parting as they passed through playing over them. Slowly, Red's lips moved and open to take a breath of air, and Yellow did the same before he pushed into another kiss. His lips slid around hers, and his head tilted into the moment for the two to be closer. His hands reached forward, sinking his fingers into her pockets and pulling all of her closer to him.

Red placed her atop his lap, pressing the whole of her body against his until their lips parted again. The Pokémon professor looked into the rubies of husband's eyes, raising her hands until the brushed against the second part of his mask and asked an unvoiced question. Red complied, closing his eyes as the locks on the upper half of the mask pulled out and dropped the material to his waiting wife. She took it, lowering the metal and ceramic mask into his lap and atop its other half.

He didn't open his eyes when hers locked onto his face. When her thumb came up and brushed along the opening on the left side of his forehead. As it lowered to the one beside his eye. To the one where his jaw bent out. To the one just below the edge of his lips. And as it worked its way back up, slipping past the hole mirrored on his right. He did open them when her hand lowered to his chest and her lips pulled forward again, just so he could meet her half way.

When the kiss broke, his eyes met hers, and love and worry and care in her caramel orbs made his heart melt. "Are you sure everything will be alright?" Her voice came out softly, her breath brushing against his jaw.

 _Everything will be fine,_ he reassured her. _I'll keep myself low and restricted so all I have to do is spend time with you. And I'll keep the mask on. It won't come off unless you allow it._

"And the champions?"

 _They can wait_. Red lifted his lips to her forehead, touching down with a soft kiss. _No reason to rush it._

"Good." The Kanto-based professor lowered her head atop the legend's shoulder, and his head fell softly atop hers. "You sure you're all healed up?"

 _Yes. The new tissue has reached the stage the rest of my body is at. And my energy has restored enough, I promise. No need to worry._

"You bleeding out on the bed gives me the right to worry. I'll worry if I want to, and I refuse not to when you need help."

 _I won't tell you to stop._

"Good." Red's chest bounced in silent laugher, jumping Yellow with it.

 _Fair enough._

Lapras gave a shrill of her name, catching the attention of the two riders atop her. The couple looked over Red's shoulder to the approaching harbor, its inhabitants, and the tournament grounds built of the occasion. Red reached down between his legs and pulled out the pieces of his mask, clicking them back together before reconnecting it to his face.

 _Seems we have arrived._

* * *

Red trialed idly behind his wife as she led the way into the Pokécenter. The dinging of the bell only alerted the attention of Nurse Joy at first, whose smile of recognition of the professor making stride to her was quickly overtaken by surprise and fear at the masked gentleman behind her. It wasn't her fault a yelp so soft sneaked through her lips but it was enough to catch attention of a trainer beside her counter who turned to the door and gave a much more dramatic response that garnered the attention of the rest of the room.

Yellow skipped in her step to the counter to greet the pink-haired nurse, leaving behind her partner to catch up under the watchful gaze of others, eying his dangerous and bizarre look. He returned their looks with simple turns of his head, the blood center of his eyes shining in the darkness of the mask's eyeholes. Each flinched back as their gazes met, but Red showed no show of reaction to their responses with the gleam in his eyes. Once he found no more trainers to judge, he arrived beside his wife at the counter, and turned his covered face down to look at the nurse with the professor.

"Hello, Nurse Joy," Yellow greeted in a cheery attitude that cut through the room's tension all the way back to the door. Joy tried her best to return the same attitude and emotion, shaking her smile while darting her eyes between the couple before her. "We're here to check in on a reservation _he_ has for the tournament going on here in the next two days." She tapped her knuckles to Red's chest, turning his eyes down to her for a second before turning back on the nurse.

"O-of course," the nurse stuttered out in a chocked breath. "I'll just…need a form of I.D. to have you registered in for your participation."

 _Oh I'm not here to participate_ , Red responded, broadcasting his words so those around could hear him too. Joy flinched as his mask moved with his mouth, small links appearing over his upper jaw between the two halves of the mask. The trainer's hand came crawling out of his pocket, dragging with it a Pokédex, and set the device down on the counter between the nurse and the legend. _I'm here under a special invitation_.

The nurse gave a hesitant nod in acknowledgement, taking the dex from Red and linking it in to her computer. It connected and the trainer information was pulled up before the woman, freezing her in place as she read the data. Her eyes moved slowly, rolling back up to lock her gaze with the dex's owner looking down upon her. The Kanto/Johto legend winked when only she could see it.

 _My apologies for the mask_. He kept his voice softer, directing it so it was only her who could hear. I wear it for reasons of privacy. _I don't usually wear it out, but if I'm going to be here under my registered name, then it is imperative I keep my looks to myself. If you could keep this matter quite until it's announced publicly, I would be grateful of your cooperation and respect_.

"O-of course, sir," Nurse Joy struggled out, shaking in her uniform as the Kanto professor and the region's mysterious fighter stood waiting. "Is there anything I can get you, Mr. Satoshi?..."

 _Refer to me as Red, please. I would rather my last name be kept down. And if you could_ , Red tapped a finger rhythmically on the counter, his voice now back to being open to the room, _could you send a message for me to one of the present professors? Let them know that Professor Satoshi and I are on the premises?_

"That won't be necessary." Yellow turned on heel at the voice booming across the room, while Red lifted his head and bounced his crazy black hair. "Officer Jenny had alerted the League of your arrival when you came to the dock on a Lapras. But an arrest has been called off, so you have no need to worry about that. They've asked me to guide you along."

Yellow beamed through the light that shone over the man of the voice's shoulder. "Professor Rowan!" she announced, taking steps forward to meet the older man's approach. It's been a while since we last met. How have you been?"

"Professor Satoshi," Rowan announced back with a smile through his mustache. Nurse Joy held her eyes in her head no matter how big they were, and shot her mouth agape back and forth between Yellow and Red. The trainer lifted a hand over his mask, raising a finger over the mouth to keep her quiet and purposefully leveling the rest of his fingers above one another so the ring in the middle of them stood out against the porcelain white of his mask. "It has been quite some time. I do hope everything on your end has been going as well as it has on my end."

"A little bumps here and there, and a few new trainers to send out, but nothing life threatening or career ending." The woman brushed a hand over her shoulder, fixing her hair in its ponytail. "Oak left behind quite a bunch for me to finish, but my progress has been successful in picking up where he left off."

"Yes, it is quite a shame he left so abruptly. I originally thought his son would take his place. How has he been fairing?"

 _Gary is settling in quite nicely as the Viridian City's new gym leader_ , Red cut in, offering a thanks to the nurse for returning to him his dex and turning to join his wife to face the Sinnoh professor. _Proving himself to be a fair opponent, even for Blaine and Sabrina, last I remember. It's why he's usually the last leader most trainers face on their journeys._

"Ah, quite right," Rowan cheered, turning his attention away from his colleague. "I don't get to hear much on other region's gym leaders on my end, only my own and the Elites everyone has when something really big is going on." He let a hand out forward, pointed to the masked man before him. "And I've heard quite a lot about you. It's a pleasure to finally meet the man I've heard so much about."

 _Likewise_. Red returned the shake, gripping the older man's hand evenly with the grip he felt. _I don't get to meet Yellow's friends all that often, if at all. You're the first professor I've met outside of her._

"Is that so?" the elder professor questioned, raising his eyebrow. "I find that quite baffling-"

 _And I'm sure you do_ , Red cut in, stepping closer in the handshake. _We can talk about it on the way, if it's all the same to you. I'm not too pleased doing this in front of a crowd._

Rowan fixed his mouth in a line, looking around and over his shoulders to the few trainers still around and paying attention to the meeting going on in the middle between two region professors and a masked stranger. "I agree," he muttered, releasing his hold of Red who stepped back beside the woman he came with. "Please, follow me. Everyone is excited to meet you."

"And I'm excited to meet everyone," Yellow spoke with a cheer, taking her steps first after the Sinnoh professor began his leave. "I don't think they actually knew I was coming."

 _Well then this will be a bigger surprise than it just being me_ , Red pitched in, joining his wife by her side behind the older man, following him out of the Pokécenter and leaving behind a baffled crowd and a hyperventilating nurse.


	4. Chapter 4: Ceremony

**Pokemon is probably my most favorite franchise. It was the first things I was introduced to, and it was my best friend who got me into it over a decade ago. It's been the biggest influence on my desires of fantasy and writing and mythical creatures that I put into a lot of my work outside of here. It's also the only kind of game I have for my DS, so...ha.**

 **To give explanation to one of the more confusing details in this chapter, I did make up a lot of the names of the professors and champions. Not all of them have given first or last names I could find for them, so I stole either or from their Japanese voice actors in the show. Decided to use those for the majority of them.**

 **Battles in this are going to be fun to write, with how much they'll differ from regular fights, since they'll be more anime like, all shouty and stuff. I don' t know if I'll do something special for the move names to distinct them from the rest of the dialogue like other stories have. I'll most likely keep them the same, just capitalized naturally as they usually are.**

 **Also, I'm working on making it work, but I am going to draw what Red looks like, just so people have an image of his for reference for the story. I'm not the best at drawing humans, so I need to improve that first, before I can draw him how I want to.**

 **Until then, enjoy the new chapter and the introduction of the people and setting I plan on expanding on, and there will be more to come. Read to your content, review on anything you want to note or ask or put into question, and have a good night.**

* * *

Red remembered the first time he met the Kanto champion. He and Lance had not met on the best of terms; hell, they didn't even really meet face-to-face. Lance met Red's back at the hospital, when the not-yet-mountain-monster refused to meet most people in the eyes and instead had his nurse share the notes he wrote as responses in his chats. And the only person who came to meet him that wasn't his savoir was the champion Lance, who met him once and never again. He met with many people in the hospital the week after the incident in Viridian City, and Red was only just appointed to treatment the day after it happened. But he offered no information of substance or importance for the League to use when investigating the incident.

After Lance had left him be in the Pewter City Hospital, Red kept an eye on him. With the help of Yellow, he stayed up to date on the champion's every move regarding the incident he came to interrogate him about, hoping to learn something himself. But their searches and investigations weren't finding him much, so Red left the hospital with Yellow disappointed. So instead he busied himself learning of the world thanks to his blond savior. Through her, he learned of the other regions, their champions, gyms, elites, professors, and Pokemon that he was under informed about. He never met them though, aside from the Saffron City gym leader Sabrina and the Battle Frontier Brain Anabel. He went his life only ever meeting four famous people across the Pokemon world.

And like a child on Arceusmas Day, he was excited to meet the champions, all gathered in one room, present to glorify and market the Champions' League in Driftveil City for the world to enjoy. And it was only thanks to his mask that his disappointment was hidden when they entered the meeting hall filled with the champions and professors, only to find them asleep around the table.

Red turned his neck to the Sinnoh professor who had guided him and his wife to the room before him, looking as lost as the newcomers did. _I wasn't aware you were all bunking on an oval table_ , he joked, earning himself a nervous laugh from the older gentleman.

"My apologies on that. They were awake when I left them." Rowan stepped into the room before the others, letting Red and Yellow enter as he closed the door behind. "We've been quite busy the past few days, making sure all preparations are made and everything goes smoothly for this tournament. Even with all of us, are hands are filled with tasks Goodshow want us to complete to help televise the tournament and encourage the crowd around us."

 _Should I be expecting to join you all in doing that?_

"No, I don't believe so. We got everything done before word of your arrival got to us." The Sinnoh professor hummed and stroked his chin, gazing to the side to the masked man. "In fact, the next few days before the battles start are going to be days for us to perform and get crowds excited in advanced. Maybe you can put on a performance to get their blood pumping."

 _Maybe._ Red stalked forward along the wall, looking along to the crowd around him but refusing to make a sound. He tiptoed around the sleeping figures of Sycamore and Kukui, and drifted his eyes across the table to the cuddling forms of Cynthia and Diantha, the hunched forms of Wallace and Steven, and the lounged forms of Alder and Lance, the latter passed out at the far end of the table. Red took to the empty chairs between Kukui and Lance, placing a hand on one and holding a hand out to his wife to join him. She did, leaving Rowan's side and walking along past her colleagues to sit in the chair Red had pulled out for her beside the professor of Alola. Instead of sitting as well, Red stayed standing behind to other chair closer to the champion he remembered but who never learned his name.

Rowan coughed and drew the attention of the two currently awake to him, and the professor smiled before slamming his hand down on the farther end of the table. The bang the impact let out in the room startled awake the rest of the room, jumping a few in their seat and toppling over the Kanto champion at the other end onto the floor. "Good morning everyone," Rowan greeted them with a smile that held more joy than kindness.

Steven groaned and leaned towards the professor with a glare. "Did you have to do that to wake us, Rowan? You could have just shook us awake."

"Yes, but with my old age, I won't get to have as much fun all the time like this," Rowan responded with a chuckle. "And besides, I left to pick up our guests, remember? Finding you all asleep isn't the best first impression."

 _Well, there's only one new person to make an impression for. The other is just putting into question her memories and compliments she had about you._ A smack of skin turned the champions' and professors' attention away from the Sinnoh elder to the man and woman who weren't there when they passed out. The blond woman, seating in her chair beside another professor, glared up to the man with a hand on hers hanging loosely in front of him, while the man gave a scratching chuckle and rubbed the back of his hand. _I'm allowed to joke, ya know._

"That doesn't mean you have a good sense of humor or timing," the blond huffed.

 _I know you like them_ , Red continued with a static chuckles, jolting the others in the room at his unnatural voice and jumping Lance onto his feet to face the masked man. Red turned his neck to the champion, drumming one hand on the other and turning his body to match. _Lance Chiba. It's an honor to finally meet the champion of the region I reside in_. The trainer from the mountain extended a hand to the carmine-haired man, who spent a second to hesitate before taking in his grip.

"Red Satoshi, I take it," the champion returned with a small nod. "Likewise." Lance squinted and took a moment to look the mountain fighter up and down. "The things I hear about your looks don't do you justice."

 _Why do you say that?_

"I've heard about your mask before," Lance continued, gesturing to his face with his free hand as the two men released their grips. "People make you out as scarier than you look."

Red hummed, something equivalent to a single note on a keyboard, and spared a look down at himself. Red sneakers, blue jeans, a thin red and white short-sleeved jacket, a black long-sleeve undershirt, fingerless gloves, and his ceramic and metal mask. That last piece of his look was the only noteworthy detail, and the rest just seemed all too natural. The trainer took a look over his shoulder to the rest of the room, champions dressed in their most iconic uniforms, and the professors, par his wife, wearing lab coats over their more formal attire.

 _I feel underdressed compared to the rest of you. Did I miss a memo?_ Red looked back to Lance, who took his question in with several flutters of his eyes before he let out a chuckle of air.

"No, the opening ceremony is today. We all thought it best to dress up in our best for the crowd of competitors and viewers back home and in the stands."

 _But weren't you all just out cold like three minutes ago?_ Alder, from his seat directly across the oval table from Red, let out a booming laugh before anyone else could respond, and right before Yellow leaned to her husband and swatted at his arm. Red turned back to her and met her glare with a soft gaze of his own as the Unova champion leaned forward in his seat.

"Yeah, you caught us," he said with a smile. "None of us have been sleeping right since we got here. We've been here today since dawn in our uniforms still going over everything, and I for one didn't even get three hours of sleep before Bouffalant woke me up."

 _You're Alder Ishizuka, correct?_ Red poked at the champion from his spot across, and earned himself a nod. _Pleasure to meet you. I wasn't aware your Pokemon doubled as alarm clocks._

"They don't," Alder spoke with another laugh. "My Bouffalant responded faster than I did to the banging on my door to get me here and took it into his hooves to get me up."

 _That's nice of him._

"Satoshi, cousin, when did you get here?" Attention moved away from the champion and trainer to the Alolan professor who had turned his own attention to the young lady sitting beside him. "You never told me you were coming! I thought you weren't going to at all."

Yellow smiled and Kukui and turned her body to more properly face him. "I wasn't planning on it originally, but my husband convinced me to come here at the last minute. He thinks it will be interesting for us to be here."

"Well then, I'm welcomed to have you aboard, Satoshi!" Kukui greeted with a smile and a clap on the Kanto professor's shoulder. "Speaking of which, am I finally going to get the honor of meeting your husband? Sachi and I have been dying to meet the man who stole your heart."

Before Yellow could respond, Red leaned in over her, placing a hand down on her other shoulder, specifically his left hand, and just enough so that the ring on his finger was visible to the Alolan professor. _If that's the case, I would love to get to know you and your wife better, Professor Kukui_ , Red spoke to him in a tone of glee. _Would having dinner together be alright? I'm a bit new to Driftveil so I don't know how much there is here to see and do._

Kukui looked up to the trainer leaning over the Kanto professor, face frozen in shock to match the other few in the room, all at their own varying levels of surprise. "You…" Kukui lifted his hand from Yellow's shoulder and pointed a shaking finger at the masked man. "You're Yellow's husband?"

Red nodded before moving his own hand off of his wife and stretching it out over her shoulder to the Alolan professor. _Red Satoshi. It's an honor to finally meet you, Keiichi Kukui._

The professor stared blankly at the trainer above him before growing a smile from his mouth and jumping out of his seat to meet the handshake. "Then it's an honor to meet you, cousin," Kukui announced in a cheer. "Of all the people I expected Yellow to snag, I had no idea it would be you. When did this happen?"

Before he could respond, the doors shot open, and the champions and professors shot out of their seats as a new man walked into the room. _Another time, professor._

Charles Goodshow looked around the room to the champions and professors before him before his eye caught sight of the blond and the mask. His face morphed into a grin beneath his beard and the small old man made his way around the table and past the professors to greet the couple.

"Red! I'm glad to see you accepted the invitation. I hope I didn't catch you at an inconvenient time." The elderly owner of the Pokemon League shook Red's hand with vigor, and the taller of the two let his arm shake in the grip. "My apologies for not sending you an invite earlier. We had some troubles finding your contact information and we were trying to get it to you last week."

 _Is that so? Well, my apologies on that, Mr. Goodshow. I don't exactly have a home phone. I'll make sure my Nav number is easier to find. Or, if it stays a hassle, I don't believe Yellow here would mind having them sent her way and she could get them to me._

"Hm?" The short man looked beside him to the professor and gave her a smile and a handshake. "Ah, yes, Professor Satoshi. It's a pleasure to see you here. I didn't think you would be coming. Don't you and Professor Elm have a project to be working on?"

"We did," Yellow started with a smile, "but the parts haven't all been shipped to him, so we can't start on an incomplete assignment. He's agreed to push it to another date."

"Ah, I see. Welcome to the tournament then. I'm sure both your company and perspectives will be greatly appreciated by the competitors." Goodshow left the two back to the entrance of the room and sat down at the empty end of the table, and the rest of the room followed suit.

"Now that we're all here, I think it's time to get to business," Goodshow began. "This is the 5th Champions' League, held once every 25 years to celebrate the new generation of trainers and pay honor to the generation before them. Rowan, Alder, I remember the two of you being here last time this was held."

"Yes, I remember that," Rowan followed. "Quite the spectacle indeed. I've never seen Hearthome as crowded as it was back then. And I remember watching the one before that when I was still young."

"And now we've moved from your region to mine," Alder spoke with a grin. "And I had only just started my time as champion of Unova before it was announced. I hadn't even hosted my own region's league before I was invited to that. What a time to be alive." The champion chuckled at his last words. "And Mr. Stone here was there too, don't forget that."

Steven laughed light-heartedly and scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, but back then I hadn't started my journey and was only there to watch from the stands. I remember seeing you two there." The Hoenn prodigy pointed to the champion and professor brought up. "That was amazing to be at. It's a bit surreal to be a part of one now, but at least I've had experience with regional tournaments to get me ready for this day."

"That's good," Goodshow cut in. "You all have to bring your best for this tournament. Trainers will be looking up to you all for advice and feedback on how they battle and perform in this tournament. Many of you will face them in the months and years to come when they challenge your regions' leagues, for the first time or again to try and perform better. The places you are in are motivational to these trainers. Your voices and opinions and insight are valuable beyond belief by many people, these people included. I expect you to be on your A-game for this.

"The tournament starts in two days, and later this evening is the opening ceremony to welcome our contestants. All you champions and professors, along with our special guests, will welcome our contestants to the challengers they face in the crowd."

 _Guests?_ Red titled his head to the table. A few heads turned to him as his eyes stayed on the League owner. _I don't remember hearing about others coming to sit in the president's box. Who else is attending?_

* * *

"Welcome to the Pokemon League's Champions' Tournament!"

Several cheers followed the announcer's greeting in the stadium. A crowd of hundreds of trainers stood in rows before the stage set up in Stadium A. The announced smiled from his podium at the far side of the stage, letting the crowd on the field and the crowd in the stage before him shout and smile in ready for the battles. The suited blond man let out a breath and rolled his shoulders before lifting the mic back to his mouth.

"Welcome, everyone, to the 5th Champions' Tournament hosted by the Pokemon League. Each time we have moved from region to region to host our tournaments, and this year we find ourselves in Driftveil City of the Unova region. So please, give a big hand to the two who made this possible: the president of the league Charles Goodshow and the champion of our region Alder Ishizuka!"

The crowd cheered again as two figures walked out from the curtains behind the announcer. The first of the two was a short man, with long white hair and a cane to help him walk and move about; and behind him came a man with orange and red fire for hair and a rope of Pokeballs over his shoulders. Goodshow and Alder took to the stage center front of the crowd, both giving their own wave and smiles to the crowds standing and sitting before them.

"It is thanks to these two men that the tournament is hosted here in Driftveil, along with the town's gym leader, Clay Mogami, who unfortunately is not here at the tournament tonight. I have been told that our resident gym leader plans on coming tomorrow, when we will be hosting our opening shows before the battles begin the day after. But, as many of you may know if you are familiar with this tournament's traditions, these two men are not the only ones with us today. To all of you, I welcome the champions from across the Pokemon World!"

The crowd erupted like the wings of Moltres as five more people walked out from the behind the curtains set up with the stage, making their way to the side of Alder in a line, shoulder to shoulder. "From the Kanto and Johto region we have campion Lance Chiba!" The dragon master raised his hand out from under his cape to the crowd in their cheers. "From Hoenn hail champions Wallace Morikawa and Steven Stone!" The man of theatre bowed to the audience as the fossil fanatic waved to the audience. "From Sinnoh arrives champion Cynthia Sakurai!" The beauty dressed in black smiled to the crowd with a bow of her head. "And from the Kalos region comes Diantha Orikasa!" The actress smiled like the woman beside her and waved like the Stone descendant to the cheering crowds of trainers and onlookers.

The announcer smiled to the crowd and the champions and company president out on stage before clearing his throat into the mic. "The champions are here for you trainers, young and old, to scout out new competition to come their way and reminisce at the familiar faces and names who have attempted to topple them before. Everyone here is excited to see your battles and the connections you and your Pokemon have with one another. And that is why, not only are the champions here today, but to follow in the footsteps of the tournament before us, we bring you four of our world's regional professors to the roster!" Again people stepped out from the curtains, four this time around, all dressed in lab coats, stepping far to the side of Goodshow to populate the other end of the stage.

"I welcome the professor and founder of Alola's Elite, Professor Keiichi Kukui!" The shirtless professor smiled his teeth and waved to the crowd. "I welcome a returning face to the Champions' Tournament, Professor Iemasa Rowan!" The older man smiled through his beard to the crowd and made no other motion as the people loud cheered their greetings. "I welcome new to the scene and researcher of the mega-evolution of Pokemon, Professor Augustine Sycamore!" The professor from Kalos smiled like Kukui and waved a hand by his side to the audience. "And I welcome, new to the world of Pokemon professors and the new face of the Kanto region's trainer program, Professor Yellow Satoshi!" The successor of Oak smiled and waved to the crowd with less show than the professors beside her. "The professors here join us today and for this tournament to see how far you have trainers have come since the days you first got your Pokemon and started your journeys as trainers. They are as proud of you as all of us are to see you here today to compete for the top spot!"

As the crowd cheered and welcomed the familiar faces of the Pokemon League, the announcer dug into his shirt pocket and pulled from it notecards that he held out above his podium. "And!" The crowd and their voices grew softer as the announcer began again, many looking to him wide eyed to know there was more to come. "For the first time in the Champions' Tournament history, I present to you three special guests who were able to make it here today as voices from your world as trainers, coordinators, breeders, and state champions!" The people cheered again, and the announcer widened his smile at the vigor and energy of the crowds.

"Our first guest with us hails from Hoenn. A coordinator at heart, and many of you know her to be the Queen of Hoenn three years running. I welcome, May Maple!" Out from the curtains walked a brunette in a long skirt down to her heels, a short orange top presenting her midriff and arms, and a veil flowing behind her hair. May smiled to the crowd and waved at her welcoming, stepping up between the professors and leaving space still between her and the owner of the League. "And for our second guest, we have another very famous coordinator. She, however, hails from Sinnoh; a prodigy in her family and in the performing arts of the coordinating festivals. I present to you, Dawn Berlitz!" Following the woman from Hoenn came a woman with blue hair in a dress, much more royal and decorated than her Hoenn rival. Dawn did as her friend did and joined the girl by her side at the front edge of the stage.

The announcer smiled and dropped to his last card. "And for our final guest, I present to…" His voice dropped as his eyes read the card before him, catching the confusion of the trainers crowding the field and turning a few heads from the stage to see him struggling with the note in hand. The man turned to look at those on stage until Goodshow stepped back to look at him. The announcer pointed at the card in his hand, unable to say the words out loud. The president of the Pokemon League smiled at him and nodded his head before walking back to the stage front beside the Unova champion.

The blond man cleared his throat and looked down at the card again, raising the mic to his mouth with a shaking hand. "And…for our final guest, I welcome here…before us today, one of the most renowned state champions of the Pokemon world…and a man I did not expect to see today." The crowd mixed at his words, several still lost in confusion as others bounced in participation or froze as their minds made the answer they were looking for. "Coming to us from…Mount Silver of the Johto region, Red."

Instead of waltzing out and waving to the crowd as those before him did, the masked man stalked out from the curtains, hands stuffed in his pockets while back upright and head held high to the crowd. He didn't wave, he didn't bow, and he didn't say a thing. He continued to move forward in silence, as the crowd and its cheers grew louder as more and more of the people within began to realize and accept the man was who they thought him to be. Red stopped his steps as he came about the owner of the League, standing by him and filling the space once left between him and Dawn, who along with May looked just as surprised to see him stand beside them as many people on the field and in the stands did.

The announcer took a moment to catch his breath, letting the audience have time to settle down and his own surprise die down so he could speak. Once the shouts died out just enough, he continued. "These 14 are here to watch over you, to sit on the side and revel in your performances and showmanship. Of how far you have all come as trainers and the strong bonds you and your Pokemon have made with one another to get here today. The world is excited to see the battles you shall all fight over this next week! So once again, I welcome you all to the Champions' Tournament, here in Driftveil City!"

For the last time that night the crowd cheered and whooped and applauded, joined by the crowd on stage, with the biggest offenders being Alder and Kukui throwing up their arms and shouting like the people in front of them. Even as they shouted the announcer spoke into his mic without stopping them. "Tomorrow will be two performances! Our resident coordinators and Wallace will be putting on a show by noon tomorrow, and to follow them will be a battle between two of the champions to ramp us the excited!" The crowd continued to cheer and interact with those beside them, and the announcer stayed by the podium with his smile never wavering.

Charles Goodshow smiled under his long beard and turned to the masked man beside him. "Are you excited to be here?"

 _I don't have a single gym badge and yet you promoted me from trainer to state champion_ , Red spoke to him and him alone. _Can't say I was expecting that out of this tournament._

"With your reputation, you've more than deserved it. Many a renowned trainers have fought you and not one has been able to drop even one of your Pokemon. You've shown no more than six in battle, and are nothing but a presence in your battles as your partners take hold of your fights. It surprises me you have no rewards to your name, just these achievements atop the mountain."

Red hummed into his mask. _Thank you, Mr. Goodshow. I'm honored by your decision and actions. As to your question, this is the first competition I've attended in a long time, so I must admit I am excited to see the talent here._

"I doubt they will manage to disappoint you," the old man chuckled, joining the masked man in watching as people began to leave the stadium. "Do you plan on going for the badges to earn the title I've given you?"

 _Maybe one day in the future I will. Who knows?_ The masked man lowered his head and gleamed his eyes to the space in front of him. _This tournament might bring me something to convince me to act._

* * *

A man dressed in a large overcoat grunted as he entered the Pokemon Center located at the base of Mount Silver. His eyes rolled to the only presence in the room, a Chansey situated behind the nurse's counter. He approached, stopping across from the Pokemon and knocking a hand on the desk. "Is Nurse Joy in?" The Pokemon nodded and let out a cry of her name in confirmation, and the scruffy man nodded back. "Thank you."

The man waited at the desk, focusing on the knuckles of his hands clenching and unclenching on will and pushing to the background the noise of the television playing off to the side. The blood under his skin boiled, and he watched as his fist let out a soft glow to his thoughts. The doors behind the desk opened, and the glowing ceased as the Nurse Joy of the Center stepped forward with her Pokemon partner. "Hello sir," she greeted with a smile the man did not return. "How may I help you today? Do your Pokemon need to be healed?"

"No, it's fine." The man shook his head lightly. "Is Red in at the mountain? I wish to visit him."

"Oh? I'm sorry to say sir, but he isn't at Mount Silver today." The man squinted his eyes and turned his head for an explanation. "He had contacted me yesterday with a message saying he would be out from the mountain for about a week's time, and to warn all trainers planning on challenging him."

"Ah, I see." He sighed and looked past his shoulder. "I'll come back when he should. Thank you."

"No problem sir. Have a good day." He nodded, turning away from the desk and taking back to the Center doors. His jaw shifted aside and hummed.

" _Coming to us from…Mount Silver of the Johto region, Red._ "

The man stopped halfway through the room. His head pivoted on neck, turning to the TV hanging on the wall, playing before him the scene of the masked man walking across a stage to join a line of faces in front of a large crowd of people.

"So this is where he went." He turned back to the nurse, whose attention had been caught by the TV as well. "Do you know where this is taking place, Nurse Joy?" he asked her over the volume of cheers and shouts.

"No, I don't. I had no idea he was going to be attending an event." The man huffed out his cheeks and turned back to the TV, watching the crowd of people cheer the presence of the mountain man and the 13 people on either side of him. Soon, a voice broke out over the cheers, and brought the smallest of grins to the man's face.

" _These 14 are here to watch over you, to sit on the side and revel in your performances and showmanship. Of how far you have all come as trainers and the strong bonds you and your Pokemon have made with one another to get here today. The world is excited to see the battles you shall all fight over this next week! So once again, I welcome you all to the Champions' Tournament, here in Driftveil City!"_

"Unova, huh?" Cassius spoke quietly to himself. "Looks like you're finally venturing out of your shell. Guess I might as well follow suit, Beta. About time I start looking out of this region."

 **Where have the last of them gone?**


	5. Chapter 5: Performance

**Okay, so this is a few days late. I was hoping to get this in by Friday, but this past week was busy for me. Not a lot of times did I have the space and freedom to write on with this chapter and its contents, and when I did it was hard to correctly word everything, and if I wasn't writing I was trying to draw what I imagined first. I've already put those on my Twitter with the dresses I decided to use as a base and add on to, with Manaphy and the lake trio of legendaries being inspiration for a lot of the changes. Link to those drawings will be at the end. Just copy/paste into a search bar. Should hopefully work.**

 **God (I don't believe in you but that's just a side note to remind the fucker (pardon my American)), I really struggled trying to write down the Pokemon moves and executing them into words to match what I saw in my head. I don't feel like I got it right and interesting enough, and that's a problem because of how important those things are to the series. I want to be able to make the imagery vivid and clear enough, but I can't think of an out-there way of doing it. Maybe you like how I wrote it this chapter; that's good and if so leads me in the right direction to keep this up. But if I'm not sticking it, do tell me so I can try it differently. The next chapter will be a fight, so hopefully there I can express the moves and the scenes I write clearly enough for you.**

 **I'm not going to be writing another chapter for any of the stories this week. I will be focusing on my writing, but I'm going to heavily work on notes and explanations for something else in the mean time, then work on a chapter or two for _Betrayed_. I'm putting into question my update schedule with the amount of stories I'm telling myself to work on around my actual life, so I might fall into a new plan come August and September. I'll stick to my current rotation idea this summer to keep trying it out, but if it becomes bleh then I'll be doing this differently. But I'm not giving up on these stories. I'll try my damned hardest to get these done. I'm too deep to tell myself to back out now. That wouldn't be good.**

 **So enough about that. Welcome to a new chapter, full of jumps in perspectives and I'll confess now: unless a Pokemon has telepathy, they're not getting English dialogue. It's the only language I can write, but to keep that divide as the other media for the series has, I'll leave most Pokemon speaking in their native tongue with characters around to translate and respond for your viewing pleasure. That's just an aesthetic thing I wanted to make clear before we push on ahead, since this chapter does have a Pokemon's perspective to follow for a bit. Thought it would be best to get that out now.**

 **Anyways, do enjoy the chapter. Review if you have anything to judge or share. Please do. Thank you for following me through this.**

* * *

Text and it's meaning:

Regular text.

"How people speak."

 _Telepathy_ (since personal thoughts haven't been too common yet)

 **Pokemon moves**

* * *

May Maple. Red was familiar with her face. Same went for Dawn Berlitz. They were both prominent and important, two of the five – maybe four if the rumors were true – that played their roles in the early stages of the abduction cases. Red had kept tabs on them that the news and social media kept on them. Knowing other people's travel habits was a pass time for him. He'd hope one day they would come to visit, out of the curiosity that plagued so many other trainers and travelers. He hadn't expected to stand beside them for a tournament, though. It would do.

The stadiums built for the grandiose tournament were something, the two of them were. Only one was in current use, and he could see the stands below him fill to the brim with contestants of the tourney and all the family, friends and other spectators that came for the show. A few familiar noteworthy trainers from the news and several Pokemon out to accompany them, but sadly enough none of the noteworthy people he had hoped to see. Maybe one of the few would be there. He would have to ask Lance or Goodshow for access to the contestant list to find if any of the people he knew were participating. More private knowledge was harder to track and remember but it didn't mean he couldn't dig for it.

He could feel his wife's hand curl around his as their bipedal Pokemon flanked either side of them. Her thumb tapped against his knuckles and drew his attention away from the stands below to the woman by his side. Brown eyes met his red as she inched closer to where he sat and pressed shoulder to shoulder and leaned against him. Her head fell atop his shoulder, and feeling obliged he followed suit and lowered his head atop hers.

The young Kanto professor smiled and guided her thumb across his knuckles. "They really did make this place spectacular, didn't they?" she spoke to him softly. "I thought they would use the old tournament stadiums they built here a few years back."

"They did."

The couple turned their head together to face the Unovan champion sitting in the row behind them. A press box sat atop the stadium seating, and the champions and professors and 'special guests' that Red assumed he was a part of had collected together in it. The only few missing heads from their crowd were the two contestant performers and the Sinnoh professor, the latter of which the champion from said region was trying to call up in the corner of their box.

Alder crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat with an Accelgor in the seat beside him. "Clay helped renovate the old tournament grounds to accommodate for a larger audience and these reserved seats. The League's been wanting to modify this place for larger events like this. Heck, this was their first choice to hold it, it just needed to be more prepared for the amount of people it would attract."

 _The gym leader, Clay, here in Driftveil_? Red asked the fiery haired man. _I wasn't aware he participated in construction work._

The champion grunted with a nod. "He and Lenora are more invested in excavation, but since this was taking place on the docks connected to his city, his compliance and assistance was all but expected."

"What has he been up to recently?" Yellow chimed in to the conversation. "I was hoping to see him yesterday when we arrived and I didn't get anything out of that other than a, 'He'll be here tomorrow.' And now, it's that tomorrow and I still haven't seen him. Will he be announcing the pre-game shows?"

"No, he will be announcing the starting of the battles, once the real tournament is about to being," Lance answered from the other side of the row from Alder. "Some activity was going on in the Desert Resort around the old ruins and Clay opted to help Elesa with whatever it was. We still haven't heard back from them yet, so if Clay comes in at the last second riding a truck unannounced don't be surprised. It's something he would do."

"That's something I would do," Alder added, turning to look at the Kanto-Johto champion across from him.

"Compromise: that's something both of you would do." The two champions turned to the professor from Kalos holding a hand out to the Unovan champion. "You're both so full of energy that I would believe you to give Clay the idea to ride on top of a truck and him crazy enough to go through with it."

"No, I meant like the bed of the truck—" Lance tried to explain while waving his hands before a booming laugh from Alder cut him short.

"AHAHAHA, that's a good one, Sycamore. I would do something like that wouldn't I?"

The Kanto man shook his head back to the tournament field. "Never mind."

"Speaking of missing faces," Kukui injected, turning to the Sinnoh champion glaring down at her phone, "any word on where Rowan is or when he'll get here? Or should I worry about age finally getting to him?"

"I'll take offence to that for him," Alder stated, pointing a finger at the Alolan professor.

Cynthia sighed her head lower and threw acknowledging that out the window. "Still no word from the old man. He won't answer his phone so either he's asleep or he's ignoring me, both of which I can assume as plausible."

"Aw, come on, Cynthia," Steven spoke up behind her. "Professor Rowan wouldn't ignore you. He probably has his phone turned off so he can practice his lines for the opening of Maple and Berltiz's performance." The professor and champion of Alola and Sinnoh respectively turned over their shoulders to the Hoenn native beside them, along with the other heads in the room. The champion of Hoenn blinked at them all before his expression faulted with a sweat drop. "Am I really the only one who remembers him telling us that?"

Wallace stroked his chin beside his champion companion. "I can't recall him ever telling us that."

"It was yesterday. It was exactly yesterday that he told us that."

Alder leaned forward, falling his chin into an open hand staring ahead and blank. "Did he really say that yesterday?"

"It was among the things we went over before we all passed out." Steven threw up a hand and looked across the room. "Am I really the only one here who remembers this happening?"

 _I wasn't there, so I feel like I can be exempt from this._ Red looked around at the other champions and professors deep in their own thoughts. _Same goes for Yellow. I thought the announcer last night said Clay would be announcing these introductions. And aren't you supposed to be in the performance with May and Dawn, Wallace?_ The mountain trainer turned his attention to the water specialist and coordinating icon still tapping away at his chin. At the mention of his name, Wallace paused his attempt at recollection and looked to the masked man with a smile and a hand on his chest.

"I will be performing after them. The girls will be having a shared performance first." A soft popping echoed through the speakers as the field in the center of the stadium rumbled, drawing attention of the crowd and the champions alike. "And it looks like they will be going up soon."

"And then after you, it's me," Lance stated as he stood from his seat to better see the transforming field.

 _You'll be half of the champions' battle before the tournament gets to start, correct?_ Red turned over his shoulder to look at the champion of his region. The orange haired man nodded.

"Correct."

The masked man turned his attention through the rest of the room. _And who is supposed to be your opponent?_

"Well, that depends." The dragon master looked down to the mountain fighter. "Are you up for it?"

* * *

Professor Rowan cleared his throat for a moment, holding the microphone down by his stomach before stepping through the entry way onto the field as it parted in the middle. He raised the mic to his mouth, stopping in the referee square in his way and looked up to the stands of the stadium filled with people in their anticipation. He smiles and raised his hand to the crowd, and started his speech.

"Good morning, everyone!" The crowd responded back to him with cheers and good mornings echoing off the walls around them, and keeping the smile on his face, he continued as the sound died down. "Thank you for being patient with us. We're nearing the time of noon, and we thought it best not to keep you waiting any longer. As promised, we have a few shows to give you before the tournament begins, and to start we bring you a wonderful performance from the queens of Hoenn and Sinnoh themselves!" Another wave of cheers broke through as a platform rose from the opening in the field, bringing out of it a stage, and atop it two young women.

May Maple was dressed in a uniform very reminiscent of her earlier days of Pokemon coordination, but with the years passed was redesigned in many ways to hold up her title as the Queen of Hoenn. The dress that had draped over her legs had increased in layers, with a shorter layer above stopping below her knees, and a third layer atop that falling only a foot or so away from her waist. Speaking of which, the band that wrapped around her waist, holding together the fabric that covered her legs, had received a minor touch up as well, with the golden band design starting at the center of her waist branching further across and around.

The colors, too, had changed, with the one peach color of the waistband turned a sky blue, and the drapes of fabric a bright yellow, ruby red, and deep purple for the shortest, middle, and longest cloth respectively.

Her top piece had only stretched the length of her sleeves, still leaving her midriff exposed. The sleeves had meet all the way to the wrist before pushing further, covering only the back of her hands and connecting to rings around each of her fingers to keep it in place. Its colors matched the waistband of her dress, the same light blue lined with gold and the design on her chest changed. The heart had been kept intact on the center of her chest, while the random lines of gold that used to stem from the base of the heart closing in as two ovals, both with their own two lines stemming from the top of them and connecting to small dots, all colored the same gold.

The head dress was gone, the long fabric like a cape no longer holding down her hair. The caramel hair now free from control was still let down, flowing past her shoulder blades with two short bangs hanging out the side of her face, and atop it all was a tiara. The framing was a smooth silver, decorated in an upward climb as it reached the center of her forehead, and there sat a blue gem with yellow dots hovering over a bigger red circle.

By her side stood Dawn Berlitz, still rising in the ranks of the Sinnoh popularity poll but by all means as equally famous as her Hoenn friend. And to accommodate her status, she too went through a change to her looks and attire. Her dress had the same layering affect her partner had on hers, but May's dress was more thin compared to the more royal nature of Dawn's. The lower half of the bluenette's dress was round, and large out from her actual physique, with two spear shaped cloths laying over the layered drapes of her dress. Around her midsection wrapped blue cloth where a gold top shot out of all the way to her collarbone. Two ribbons decorated her stomach, and a third sat atop her chest. The shoulders to her dress puffed up like balls, cutting small on her bicep and leaving most of what was left of her arm to cover to the white gloves stripped in pink, passing high over her elbow but not enough to meet her sleeves.

The setup of her hair was simple, most of it pulled back in a ponytail that originated closer to the back of her head than nearing her neck, and held in place by a yellow bun, with only two bangs of hair caressing either side of her face. She didn't wear a headpiece as her friend did, but the dress alone attributed the look of royalty she needed.

The two young women stood posed, upright with Dawn's hands folded in front of her chest and May's grasped behind her back. Their heads down and their eyes closed, the women stayed unmoved by the cheering and whistling of the crowd. Only as the sound subsided did the two girls raise their heads and open their eyes to the crowd. Their passive looks quickly turned upright into smiles before they both flicked a hand out forward, a Pokeball enlarging in their grasps, and then threw them up into the sky.

"Blaziken, take the stage!"

"Typhlosion, spotlight!"

The two containers snapped open, blue light jolting into the sky before striking back down on the stage below and taking form before the crowds. The first broke away in sparkling dust to reveal a humanoid Pokemon, decked in orange, yellow and brown feathers, with a beak for a mouth and claws for fingers and toes, with fire erupting from his wrists. From the other blot of light came a beefier Pokemon, standing short on all fours showing her blue back to the world and barring her teeth as flames came bursting from the back of her neck. Blaziken and Typhlosion let out cries in their tongue, lighting their flames ablaze in harmony and ready as their trainers caught the balls coming back down.

Dawn stepped forward, holding a hand outward and elegantly to her volcano Pokemon. "Typhlosion," her voice rang out through the stadium in a calm tone, "start of the show with **Sunny Day**."

The quadruped fire type growled as her back arched and rose her to only her hind legs, before her head snapped back and shot to the sky a ball of light. The shining orb rose and rose, high above the crowd, before erupting and shining down a brighter light than the sun was moments ago.

May took a foot forward, smiling like a madwoman despite her attire and thrusting a hand forward to her starter Pokemon. "Blaziken, help prepare the show with **Bulk Up**!"

The bipedal Pokemon stepped ahead of his companion before falling into a wide stance and sounding off with a huff of a breath. The fire from his wrists glowed brighter with the red aura that began encasing the blaze Pokemon from head to toe under the shining lights of the sun.

Dawn smiled to the crowd, barring her teeth and closing her eyes with a look of glee. "Ready, everyone?" The Sinnoh native turned her hand over, pointing a finger to her fire type. "Typhlosion, encase the stage with **Smokescreen**!"

The shorter Pokemon complied, shooting from her mouth plumes of black smoke. Blaziken stood unmoving as his body glowed red and heated up from the sun and his own fire. Second by second the smoke thickened, the volcano Pokemon releasing it not letting up. Until…

"Alright, Blaziken, let's get to crafting! **Agility** around the stage!"

Blaziken, glowing red within the smoke to give its position away to the crowd, ceased his **Bulk Up** , and in doing so disappeared in the black clouds building in the center of the stadium. But only for a moment, before a white flash outlined him in the smoke and shot forward out of it and to the stadium wall. His feet and claw dug into the stone wall, the light around his body brighter outside of the dark clouds building around his partner. Slowly he let go of the wall, leaving his feet dug into the stone wall as he turned to face down the length of the stadium wall. A foot rose from the wall, moving out with the length and digging itself back in as both legs crouched and his muscles tensed before in a dash of light the tall Pokemon was running along the wall.

"Keep up the smoke, Typhlosion!" The fire Pokemon within the darkness did as instructed, black clouds plumping out from her mouth and building into the rest as Blaziken kept up its pace around the stage.

* * *

 _I must say, for a contest show, it's not as…_ Lucario waved his hand in a circular motion as he thought over his words. _Beautiful as I thought it would be_.

 _Especially with the move pool they've shown_ , Gardevoir chimed in. _**Bulk Up**_ _and_ _ **Sunny Day**_ _are beauty based moves, but their current show of_ _ **Agility**_ _and_ _ **Smokescreen**_ _consist of coolness and smarts. It's quite strange._

Yellow sighed, tapping a finger against her chin as the two Pokemon beside her conversed. She was the only one in the press box that could hear them due to the connection, so their commentary was lost on the champions and professors around her conversing with each other and their own Pokemon.

"They still have a few moves to show," the Kanto professor added in a whisper to the psychic and the aura user. "What they intend this show to be to the audience relies entirely on the rest of their move sets. I can't really tell what they're doing now."

"I think they're making a tower." The Satoshi professor jumped in her seat and turned her head to the Hoenn champion sitting a few seat behind her. Gardevoir clung to her arm, sending out small pules of her energy to calm the woman down from the surprise as others in the room looked to the silver haired man.

"You caught that too?" the Sinnoh beauty asked from her seat, leaning into the Kalos champion beside her.

"Yes but I'm not sure what they're trying to make of it yet. Could be a number of things but they still need to round it out first."

"I'm not sure I follow," Alder brought up from his seat with Accelgor using his trainer as one.

The stone maniac of a trainer pointed to the show, to the black smoke building in the center. "Why else would Blaziken be using Agility like that?"

The champion wasn't wrong in his point; Blaziken was speeding around the inside of the stadium field walls, around the stage and his companion and trainer, and the black smoke piling from them. But his passive move wasn't just for show, if speeding around like a bullet was becoming an indication. As he ran, the smoke followed, and it was becoming clearer to the crowd what was happening as the smoke swirled and rose higher on the stage.

"What do you think they're trying to make?" Yellow pondered aloud to the surrounding people.

"Unova has its own memorial tower," Alder chipped in. "They could be trying to replicate it as an homage if I were to bet."

"Would you be up for losing a bet?" The regional champion turned to face the visitor from Kalos, looking over Cynthia beside her to meet Alder's gaze.

The fiery haired champion crossed his arms as he fell back in his chair. "What do you think they're making, then?"

Diantha blinked, leaning herself forward in her seat and wrapping an arm around the blond beauty of Sinnoh to keep her from falling off and she looked to the performance again. "They're making a Typhlosion."

* * *

"Alright, Typhlosion, that's enough!" Dawn announced, hoping in the thick swirling smoke her Pokemon could still hear and did as instructed to stop and sit still.

"Does it look tall enough to you, Dawn?" May asked her companion, a hand hovering over her eyes as she looked up to the towering smoke cloud closing in on itself at the top. The bluenette joined her partner giving the towering smoke a look of her own.

"I think so, May," the Sinnoh coordinator replied to her friend.

"Then it's time for phase two! Blaziken, dart through the smoke with **Blaze Kick**!"

The tall flaming chicken nodded, taking an immediate stop in his movements without dialing down the glow of **Agility** before his legs lit up in flames and he rocketed off the wall. He shot feet first into the cone of smoke, ripping open a hole where he entered and another where he made his exit to stick a landing on the wall face again, leaving behind a trail of white, black and fire.

Then he took off again, running along the wall before darting off and through the clouds to create another tunnel through it. And he did it again. And again. And again. And soon the pyramid shaped cloud of black smoke was left with tunnels throughout, slowly closing smaller as the **Smokescreen** tried to resettle. But May wasn't going to let that happen.

"Now, Blaziken, to the center!" the Hoenn queen called out, and her Pokemon followed, losing the white light and fire that surrounded it as it jumped into the high pile of smoke. The Sinnoh lady stepped forward from her friend, placing both of her hands on her chest with a smile widening across her face.

"Alright, you two. It's time to blow everyone away! Typhlosion, **Seismic Eruption**!"

"Blaziken, **Burning Bright Uppercut**!"

And the stadium shook. The crowd clung to their chairs and tried to bury themselves in their seat as everything around them sook, and nothing kept them from screaming – some in astonishment and others in scare – as the cone of black smoke peeking into the sky shot plumes of fire into the air, and in the center of it all a figure cloaked in white and red with a fist held high.

* * *

"A Typhlosion," Cynthia commented, resting her chin on her hands and curling her lips in a smile. "The volcano Pokemon. Clever word play." She turned her head and comment to the girl by her side who smiled back and leaned against the Sinnoh champion.

"Thanks babe," the Kalos actress responded, leaning into the other champion to let their noses brush past one another, ignoring Alder's comment about grace and not having a gambling addiction.

"Okay, while that's cute, _that's_ terrifying." Kukui took the finger he had pointed to the blond champions beside him and gestured it to the erupting work of fire, smoke and a bipedal bird in the center of the stadium for his second adjective. "They replicated a scenario of an erupting volcano without having to build anything other than hype and expectations. I think most of those moves classified as Beauty moves under contest standards, but they made something that probably would have fit under a Tough performance. I'm going to have to congratulate my cousins for this show."

Lucario turned head over his shoulder to look at the Alolan professor who didn't meet his own eyes or take any notice of the aura user's eyes on him. _How is everyone his cousin?_

"Honestly, cous', I don't know how you're going to follow this up—where's Wallace?" The professor/champion had crossed his arms and turned around in his seat to talk with the champ-in-training only to find the seat vacant of its previous owner.

Steven turned over to the professor turning his head every which way to find the man in question before he piped up. "Oh he left a while ago to get ready for his performance. He didn't want to distract us while he left from what the ladies were doing."

"Really?" The champion nodded to Kukui. "I thought we would have noticed that."

"Did he leave before or after we placed bets on the battle?" Cynthia chimed in, leaning her head back to look at the two men conversing.

"Before. Snuck out with them. And no one is betting on the match, Cynthia. We're not doing this again."

Sycamore leaned over the seat before him. "Is there a betting pool I should be aware of?"

Cynthia was the only other head in the room to look over to the Kalos professor and sound off in unison with a, "No," before Yellow decided to pick up the rest. "You're off researching and making a difference all the time. You don't need to know about a betting pool, which we promised to stop using after the last time, and bother wasting your money." The heads turned again to face the blond fighter of Sinnoh, who after the long silence that came with their gazes got her to notice what was going on and sink into her seat with a pout.

"It's not my fault I have bad luck," she grumbled under all the gazes, and sunk even lower as her partner lowered her head onto of the Sinnoh champion's.

"We don't blame you for trying," Diantha sung softly to the other woman, who in turn kept her only reply to be an inaudible grumble without any sort of other reaction.

Steven broke the glaring silence of everyone else with a clap and a jump from his seat, shooting a hand to the windows before them. "Wallace is up."

The group of professors and champions looked back to the stadium center, to the crowd of people watching with them, and to the lava and stone and smoke spiraling in the air.

* * *

Rowan grimaced a smile, raising a hand to block his eyes as the wind picked up around him and the three coordinators by his side. The Sinnoh professor turned his head only enough to face the Hoenn legend of a man, staring up at his Milotic and the elemental **Twister** it was creating. "It's nice to know after all these years you still like making a grand entrance!" he yelled over the winds. "Nothing would be the same if you didn't try to make your first step count as twenty!"

"Well you can't blow anyone away without a strong enough current, much less everyone!" Wallace yelled back in a smile, stepping forward to join the young women in the middle. "My sincerest apologies for turning you ladies down for a triple threat of a performance, but I couldn't help myself from tagging along in the end!"

"It was just about your turn anyways!" May responded for the two. "Though I thought you would have waited until ours was fully done to make your appearance!" The brunette turned her attention to the source of the elemental whirlwind above, spotting her Blaziken and Dawn's Typhlosion crouched beside Wallace's Milotic.

"I couldn't call it a triple threat if we weren't all here together, now could I? I think there is still more for both of you to do now with me in the mix, so let's give the audience one hell of an ending!"

"Always aiming for a grandiose finale, aren't you Wallace?" Dawn questioned with a smirk.

"Only because I don't want the battle up next to outdo me!" The water specialist gave a wide smile of his own. "Are you two ready for 'Release a Pokemon'?"

"That move?!" Both ladies gave the older gentleman a wide-eyed look. "You sure it will work well with water and fire together?"

"I haven't made a Luxury Ball out of it yet! Better now than never if we keep Typhlosion in the center!" Wallace kept his eyes on Dawn looking for her approval and commitment until she nodded her head in vigor. "Alright then! May, I can trust you and Blaziken to get Typhlosion in there?"

"You can count on us!" May took a lunge with her foot forward, raising a fist out to her Pokemon. "Guys, it's time for a catch and release! Blaziken, we're gonna need you to get Typhlosion inside that storm! You up?!"

Blaziken looked back to his trainer, nodded to her words over the storm before hopping over Milotic to the other fire starter and grabbing them tight.

Dawn cut in before either could disappear from view. "Typhlosion, we're gonna need more smoke in that storm, so throw in as much as you can!"

The two Pokemon nodded towards their trainers and looked to the tender Pokemon beside them. Milotic nodded, holding the end of her tail to the Pokemon and allowing Blaziken to climb on before filing them into the hurricane of desolation. Blaziken kept a tight grip on his partner, diving head first through the swirling ring of smoke and navigating around on stones with loose footing and **Agility** to boot. Typhlosion kept her head down for the ride, spewing smoke from her mouth and leaving it to pile up in the thickness of flames, stone and smoke already in the air.

Wallace took a step forward, extending an open hand to his Pokemon on the torn stage. "Now, Milotic, add in your own mix of **Dragon Pulse** and **Hydro Pump**!"

The water serpent let out a ring in her language and tongue, generating before her mouth a dark green ball of power before releasing it in a vicious beam of energy alongside the **Twister** above. Just as violently as it was shot, the **Dragon Pulse** was pulled into the spiral mess, taking and keeping its form as Milotic kept up the beam for many more seconds. When she stopped the attack, Miloticonly took a second to breathe before forming a light blue ball of energy in front of her mouth and releasing a strong stream of water on the opposite side of the **Twister** , only for the **Hydro Pump** to follow the fate of the **Dragon Pulse**.

Despite the added moves to their surroundings, Blaziken kept up his performance in keeping himself and his partner unharmed by the spiraling storm encasing them. Typhlosion coughed out the last smoke she could, shaking her nose with a growl to show she could produce no more under the conditions, and left the two Pokemon holding on to one another and a boulder until they were ready otherwise.

Wallace shared a look with the two coordinators by his side, nodding with them as they decided it was time. He turned back to his Pokemon, shooting his arm to the sky. "Now, Milotic, send the storm flying high!"

Milotic did just that, letting out a shill in its tongue and pushing the **Twister** with the control she had upwards, surpassing the height of the stadium seats and then some. The two fiery friends inside could feel the rise even with the strong winds around them. The two nodded to each other, releasing their holds on the other allowing Blaziken to jump to another rock and give Typhlosion her space to work.

* * *

Neither Pokemon could hear the screams of their trainers below, but the two were familiar enough with the move and what their own roles in the finale were. The bipedal of the two took higher in the spiral of elements, glowing white as he boosted himself higher and faster from his orange glowing friend. Nearing the top, Blaziken took an angled stance on the last rock he could reach, took one last look to his friend below popping the air around her and in a dash of white light took off with distance away from the **Twister** mesh of attacks.

And turned in midair to watch the explosion of colors.

Typhlosion put out one last move of **Eruption** and destroyed the move they had been building up in a spectacle of various colors and shapes. The wind and smoke plumed out in various directions, the rocks blew apart to pebbles and dust, and the Dragon-, Water-, and Fire-type moves mixed together and fizzled out in their own small fireworks of explosions. And in the center of the expanding mix of excitement hovered Typhlosion, smoke rolling off her body as her roar with the attack died in her throat.

Then they both fell.

Blaziken spun his body about so he was diving head first back down to the trainers of the performance. He trusted his enough to have a plan for delivering them in a soft landing. Typhlosion, however, did look worse for wear, taking a slower belly dive than the Hoenn fire starter. Milotic could probably catch them with another **Twister** but that would be very risky and would directly damage the two fire types without all the other moves they had to negate it just then with the special move performance. That could end the performance poorly—

Blaziken blinked at the sight of a Dragonite shooting up – he didn't see where from – into the sky before diverting its course and aiming itself for the two falling Pokemon. A Dragonite, here in the Unova region? It's more likely than you think. But to be this far south of Dragonspiral Tower? Blaziken knew of what other trainers were around, and he knew which had befriended a Dragonite. So he spun his body around turning upright to land more graciously on Dragonite's back, but instead found himself in the clutched of a Charizard coming from the other direction.

Blaziken could see Dragonite catch Typhlosion on his back instead of going for him, which was fine all on its own, but the Charizard was less expected. His trainer mentioned all the Pokemon the dual-region champion but he thought the man's Charizard wasn't around. The only reason Blaziken didn't fight back was that the fire dragon carrying him swooped back around and dipped to the three coordinators, his trainer included, and kicked up some dust before dropping Blaziken a safe distance down.

May ran up beside him, and Dawn to her Typhlosion with Milotic slithering back to Wallace on her own accord, but Dragonite and Charizard kept themselves airborne. The dragon Pokemon gave a snide comment in his tongue about bird trying to fly with no wings that Blaziken bristled at, and in return the Charizard made a comment of his own regarding the size of Dragonite's wings compared to the rest of his body. The dragon type snarled in unison with the fire/flying dragon, but the latter had a smirk to go with it, and made another comment on how close to a pulp he would leave the former in if he couldn't keep up in the fight.

Blaziken followed Charizard with his eyes, confused as to why two Pokemon of the same trainer would speak with such hostility to one another, until the Dragonite _didn't_ follow him to the end of the field, and Charizard landed beside a man who was clearly _not_ the dragon tamer of Kanto. Blaziken's head snapped in the other direction, watching Dragonite land in front of the dragon trainer, decked in his giant blue cloak no doubt covering the rest of his imperial uniform as the champion. And the bipedal Pokemon's head snapped back to the Charizard landing in front of a different man, dressed in white shoes, blue jeans, a red and white short-sleeved jacket, a black long-sleeve beneath it, fingerless gloves of the same color, and a thin white mask that only showed the untamed raven hair and red eyes of the man behind it. And around his shoulders lied a pink feline of a Pokemon wiggling against his neck as though it was trying to fall asleep.

That wasn't someone he had formerly met, and with the attitude of his Charizard and the uncomfortable air around him, not someone he was ecstatic to meet. The fire dragon let out a roar of flames to the sky, greatly overshadowing Dragonite's regular war cry. It was almost uncomfortable to think that the Charizard might fare batter in a fight, but not seeing said Pokemon match the ferocity of his opponent was enticing some worry in the flaming bird.

That worry only increased as Charizard upped its game with a hefty flap of his wings and the fire of his tail flaring higher than his head. Blaziken took an arm around his trainer and pulled her away from the stage with the other coordinators as it sunk back into the ground without them, and closed as the field for battles took the land once again. The crowds above were roaring for a fight, deafening any other noise reaching Blaziken's ears; he could barely hear the woman beside her try to get a response from her starter Pokemon. He kept his eyes over on the masked man staring ahead to the Kanto based champion across the stadium from him, with his Pokemon joining him in the staring contest.

Then the mask turned to face Blaziken and the noised stopped.

Not time, not feeling. Just the sound.

 _You don't have to worry about me._ The feathers on his arms and legs stood up and his wrists threatened to flare as a voiced echoed around him. _I hold no ill intent towards you or your trainer. I am no threat to you. But I would like to get to know you and your friends more. I have praise to share for that performance, and a few simple questions for your trainer and her friend regarding…Well, hopefully they'll be okay with it. Even if it is touchy._ The man's head turned back to forward, eyes still trained on the fire Hoenn starter and glistening under his mask. _It's been a few years since the broadcasts. It shouldn't be too hard to talk about now._

The screaming stadium came roaring back in his ears before he had time to respond in any way, and he flinched at just how loud it all was. His trainer worried over him more, placing herself practically below his hunched over form as his mind processed the words given to him. The blaze Pokemon turned his blue eyes to the field once again, to the two dragon-esque Pokemon and their trainers staring down the other, and to the man he hadn't learned the name of standing oh so plainly but _oh so threateningly_.

Blaziken didn't trust the man with red eyes.

* * *

 **Known Pokemon:**

Lucario. Trainer: Red. Male.

Gardevoir. Trainer: Yellow. Female.

Blaziken. Trainer: May. Male.

Typhlosion. Trainer: Dawn. Female.

Milotic. Trainer: Wallace. Female.

Charizard. Trainer: Red. Male.

Dragonite. Trainer: Lance. Male.

* * *

 **Dress artwork in sketch form and reference will be newest tweet. won't let me post the whole link on here so I'll give the account name for you to look up instead** : at PhantosOfHorror (also I can't put in an at symbol. What are these restrictions?)


End file.
